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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188976">The Strange Case of the Alley Cat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/unexpectedchair/pseuds/unexpectedchair'>unexpectedchair</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The ties that bind [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dungeons &amp; Dragons - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fae &amp; Fairies, Gen, Team as Family, animal - Freeform, barkeepers know everyone, especially if that strange cat is secretly a powerful archfey, sometimes u and ur friends gotta pick up a strange cat u kno?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:21:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,014</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188976</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/unexpectedchair/pseuds/unexpectedchair</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a window breaks in the Ol' Strings Tavern, Ela Kia finds herself a new but troublesome friend.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The ties that bind [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824715</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Strange Case of the Alley Cat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>you ever write fanfic for your own dnd campaign? i do, apparently. this one is old af. we miss u ela kia (she aint dead dw)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Ol’ Strings Tavern was relatively empty, except for the party, as heavy thunderstorms typically made it difficult for one to travel, even more so for one trying to get home afterwards while drunk off the various selections of mead. It was relatively quiet inside, except for the usual bout of heavy thunder that seemed to shake the whole establishment.</p><p>	It began when Krunk sent one of Ela Kia’s rocks through a window.</p><p>“Whoops,” he said, uncharacteristically sheepish. “Sorry.”</p><p>“Fucking nice one,” Ainsel snorted.</p><p>“Oh, Evren’s going to kill you for that one,” Istus mused. “Or she’ll at the very least make you wash dishes.”</p><p>“Eugh, gross,” Krunk recoiled. “I’m gonna go hide upstairs, nobody tell her.”</p><p>“Hey Evren,” Ainsel called. “Krunk broke your window.”</p><p>“Ainsel, what the <em>fuck</em>!”</p><p>“I can fix it,” Joshuel looked up. “I got some duct tape.”</p><p>“For the last time, Joshuel, none of us fucking know what duct tape is,” Krunk retorted.</p><p>“Yeah, toast!” Baron interjected, very helpfully.</p><p>The table dissolved into bickering. Ela Kia sighed a little, having expected something like this to happen eventually. Krunk was a dear friend to her, but… it was <em>Krunk</em>. She just hoped the rock didn’t break.</p><p>“Now I’m gonna have to go out into the rain to get it,” she complained, “You owe me one!”</p><p>“I could always go get it,” Ted offered.</p><p>“No, no, that’s alright. I like rain,” Ela Kia stood, “I’ll go get it. It’s fine.”</p><p>As Evren stormed into the room at the commotion, Ela Kia exited, recoiling from the harsh rains. She really did like the rain, as she liked nature as a whole, but the downpour almost hurt from the harsh winds. In order to make it quick, she ran down the side length of the building, wincing at the mud splattering against her nice jeans. On the verge of entering the alleyway of which the rock no doubt soared into, she paused.</p><p>Shadows seemed to dance in the maw of the alleyway, cast by the light of the tavern onto the neighboring business. There had to be something in the alley casting the umbra, but it almost looked inhuman, the shapes contorting and twisting into something she couldn’t quite make out. Steeling her resolve, Ela Kia peaked around the corner, and did not meet face to face with an unspeakable monster; just an empty, muddy alleyway, with a lone crate, and no sign of her rock.</p><p>She hesitantly rounded the corner at that, making her way to the box. It didn’t make sense in terms of trajectory, as the crate was near the end of the alleyway, and the window was at the front, but perhaps her stone had landed within it somehow. As she got closer, she paused, as she heard the unmistakable sound of a cat meowing in distress. At that, she hurried her pace, quickly looking inside the crate.</p><p>Surrounded by week-old vegetables and damp cobwebs, was a small, black cat, with it’s left eye missing and marred by three distinct scratch-mark scars. It mewed pathetically, looking up at Ela Kia with it’s lone, sad eye. </p><p>“Oh,” she breathed.</p><p>--</p><p>“<em>Guys</em>!”</p><p>The group looked up from where they were sitting at their usual table. Ted had been getting worried, so the sound of Ela Kia reentering the tavern came as a relief.</p><p>“Did you find your rock?” Ainsel inquired passively, removing the dirt from beneath her fingernails with her dagger.</p><p>“<em>Even better</em>,” she grinned, unfurling her arms from where they had been covering the view of her chest, revealing a small puff of wet, black fur.</p><p>“Is.. that a cat?” Joshuel asked, holding Thomas Jefferson a bit closer to his person.</p><p>“Mhm!” She bounced towards the group, promptly plopping the cat on the table. It was a pretty skinny looking thing, definitely looking worse for wear.</p><p>“How cute,” Ted smiled, reaching out to let the cat sniff his fingers. “It looks rather tame, hopefully it’s not a feral cat.”</p><p>The cat sniffed for barely half a second before it reared back and scratched <em>hard</em> on his hand, before it trotted around the table and plopped down in front of Ainsel. Ted yelped, recoiling, shaking his fingers of blood. Krunk laughed from where he was washing dishes at the bar. Istus winced in sympathy. </p><p>“Ow,” Ted remarked flatly, his hand glowing with divine energy as he channelled divine energy to heal his rather shallow wound. “That hurt.”</p><p>	“Oh, it’s just play fighting,” Ainsel stabbed her dagger into the table, reaching out her own hand to pet the cat. It immediately began to purr, pressing into her hand. “See? Friendly.”</p><p>Ted rubbed his new, very faint scars. “You’re just good with cats, I’d bet.”</p><p>“Or maybe you’re just bad at animals,” she grinned. “I wouldn’t be surprised, the only animals you nobles usually see are in cages.”</p><p>He scowled. “Hush. I can’t imagine why it doesn’t like me- animals usually do. It’s not like I did something to it…”</p><p>“You existed near it,” Krunk yelled from the bar. “That’s reason enough, my guy.”</p><p>Ted groaned. “Can you go five minutes without insulting me?”</p><p>“Nope!”</p><p>“Maybe it belongs to someone,” Joshuel mused, “It wouldn’t exactly be right for us to steal someone else’s cat.”</p><p>“I suppose not, but there wouldn’t be any use looking for a possible owner now,” Istus mused. “We should-”</p><p>	“Familiar,” Toast said suddenly, staring at the cat. The cat stared back, it’s lone eye blinking slowly at the gnome.</p><p>	Ted raised an eyebrow. “What?”</p><p>“Familiar,” Toast reached out, his voice becoming flat. “This cat. It’s familiar.”</p><p>For a moment, the tavern was silent. The cat meowed after a second.</p><p>“Well,” Ainsel interjected. Ted noticed her voice came out slightly hesitant. “We should at least try and dry it off.”</p><p>“Right,” Ted nodded. “How bad could that go?”</p><p>--</p><p>“This is going very bad,” Joshuel remarked, recoiling with his hands up to protect Thomas Jefferson as Ted desperately tried to wrestle the cat into a towel. It yowled, attempting to bite his hand.</p><p>“This cat is a menace,” Ted hissed, picking up the cat underneath it’s forelegs and holding it up so that it’s body went sort of long. “You are a menace,” he told it earnestly.</p><p>The cat yowled once more in reply, almost in a mocking manner.</p><p>Joshuel slowly approached again, cautious of his rat friend’s safety. “Let me try. My grandma had a cat like this once.”</p><p>He approached like a ranger would approach a particularly angry bear, legs in a wide stance, arms sticking outwards as if he was about to go in for a hug. This perplexed the small animal, as it tilted its head in curiosity.</p><p>	Joshuel then proceeded to pick the cat up by the center of its body. The cat arched into a U shape as it was lifted up, clearly perplexed. Joshuel then maneuvered the cat so that it rested on his hip, legs dangling.</p><p>	“Football carry,” He stated simply. Thomas Jefferson squeaked from his shoulder.</p><p>“What's football..?” Ted muttered.</p><p>Joshuel looked down at the cat. It meowed in indignation.</p><p>--</p><p>Krunk set a glass down on the table, grumbling underneath his breath at being assigned chores. He knew, honor wise, he had earned his punishment. The tavern was significantly colder now that one of the windows was busted, making everyone else suffer as a result of his foolishness. Still, he reserved the right to be a little pissed at Evren for making him wash dishes of all things.</p><p>	He slid the glass down the length of the table… where the cat was sitting, perched ever so pretty.</p><p>	“We finished drying him off,” Ted sighed, “But now we’re both covered in the water that was once on the cat.”</p><p>Joshuel shrugged. “Cats. A formidable foe.”</p><p>Krunk watched as his companions disappeared up the stairs. He huffed, shook his head, then turned back to the cat.</p><p>	The cat had a single paw on the glass that Krunk had just washed.</p><p>“Don’t you fucking dare,” he whispered.</p><p>The cat stared Krunk dead in the eye, then slowly pawed the glass off the table. A cacophony of sound broke the silence in the tavern as the glass shattered into a thousand pieces.</p><p>	“You fucker!” He yelled, slapping the towel he was holding down on the table. </p><p>The cat meowed, haughtily padding down the length of the bar, before it hopped off, padding back over to where Ainsel and Toast were sitting.</p><p>	“Yeah, you better fucking run,” Krunk grumbled. “Shit, do I have to clean up the glass?”</p><p>“Yep,” Evren yelled from the back of the tavern.</p><p>“<em>Fuck</em>!”</p><p>--</p><p>Ainsel stared at the cat. The cat stared back, blinking slowly.</p><p>She picked it up slowly, plopping it on the table in front of Toast. The cat padded around in a circle, before flopping over onto its side. She turned to Toast, who was in the middle of munching on a piece of toast.</p><p>	“Toast, you said this cat was familiar, correct?”</p><p>Toast nodded. “Toast has seen the cat before.”</p><p>“Hm,” Ainsel pondered for a moment. “Before coming here, or before waking up in the cave?”</p><p>	Toast got a strange look on his face, which gave Ainsel pause. She wondered if this cat was some sort of aberration, or horrid monster in disguise. But on second thought, she figured that if the cat had the sense to attack only Ted, it couldn’t be that bad a creature.</p><p>“Before the cave,” Toast said. “Friend. Cat is friend.”</p><p>“A friend,” Ainsel echoed. “Hm. Can you try and remember more?”</p><p>“Toast!” Toast replied, and that was that on the matter.</p><p>Ainsel sighed, leaning forward and putting her weight on her elbows, so her face was close to the now sleeping cat. She paused, examining its face. The scar over it’s left eye was truly what gave her a moment of hesitance.</p><p>“Familiar,” she repeated.</p><p>“Perhaps it’s an actual familiar,” Ted descended the stairway, now back in his actual clothes. “Maybe it belongs to a nearby wizard.”</p><p>Ainsel looked up. “Plausible. Maybe you could use your, ah.. Metal.. Detector.. Thing? That Paladins do?”</p><p>“Hm,” Ted nodded. “Not a bad idea, let me--”</p><p>“What’s all the fuss about?” Evren entered. She paused, getting a strange look on her face at the sight of the cat, before she smiled. “Ah, you found my cat!”</p><p>“Your cat?” Ainsel blinked.</p><p>“Yes,” Evren walked over, picking up the cat. “My cat. He’s a little bastard, so sorry for the trouble he may have caused.”</p><p>The cat meowed, almost proud of himself.</p><p>“Ah, well, then, I suppose it’s resolved,” Ted hummed. “Although, why was he--”</p><p>“He gets out sometimes,” Evren hurried out, still smiling. “I’m glad y’all found him.”</p><p>Ainsel watched this interaction in silence, squinting. She kicked Ted’s leg, nodding at him, hoping he’d get the drift.</p><p>“What- Oh,” Ted nodded slowly after a moment. He then turned to Evren’s retreating figure and the cat, eyes squinting. Ainsel watched as the brown pupils of his eyes momentarily flashed a bright blue, before settling into a faint glow.</p><p>“Fey,” Ted said after a moment.</p><p>“So it is familiar, then?” Ainsel shrugged. “I didn’t know Evren knew magic.”</p><p>Ted looked forward, and said nothing for a moment. “Odd, indeed.”</p><p>--</p><p>Evren carried the cat into the back of the Tavern, into an empty kitchen area.  As soon as the door had closed behind her, she looked down at the cat, gaze disapproving. She tsked softly, shaking her head at it in clear displeasure.</p><p>“You little bastard,” she told it earnestly.</p><p>“Why, whatever do you mean?” The cat replied, tilting its head. </p><p>She dropped the cat onto the center table, crossing her arms. “I know it’s you. Stop messing with your daughter’s friends.”</p><p>Almost as if on command, the cat began to contort and shift, turning to a wall of pure black and growing larger, into the form of a humanoid man with an abnormally pale complexion. He grinned a bit, his lone, pitch black eye holding a twinkle of mischief.</p><p>“Sorry,” Lugh crossed his legs as he sat on the countertop, “Couldn’t resist.”</p>
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